The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1399 
These  have  always  seemed  to  me  very  re¬ 
markable  feats  of  strength,  but,  after  all, 
they  are  as  nothing  beside  the  way  little 
Vi  Baker  ordered  her  big  husband  about. 
How  do  such  women  do  it?  Here  is  work 
for  the  psychologists ! 
It  was  easy  to  see  before  supper  was 
half  over  that  this  was  a  Charlie  and 
Henry  combination  which  was  rapidly 
reaching  the  point  where  full  family 
fusion  would  be  impossible.  After  supper 
John  pulled  on  his  big  boots  and  lighted 
his  lantern. 
“Going  to  be  a  bad  night,  teacher.  I 
guess  I’ll  go  out  to  the  barn  and  see  if 
the  sheep  are  all  right.  Want  to  come 
along?” 
I  got  on  my  coat  and  we  struggled  out 
into  the  storm.  It  was  fierce.  The  snow¬ 
flakes  stung  like  bullets,  and  we  could 
hardly  push  the  barn  door  open.  When 
we  did  pass  in  the  door  slammed  upon  us 
with  a  blow  that  nearly  knocked  us  into 
the  sheep  pen.  John  Baker  had  the  best 
Merino  sheep  in  that  township,  and  it 
was  pleasant  enough  to  see  these  black- 
tops  contentedly  chewing  their  hay  with¬ 
out  a  care  for  the  fierce  blast  raging  out¬ 
side.  John  raised  his  lantern  and  stood 
looking  at  his  beauties.  It  seems  to  me 
that  ever  since  Bible  times  the  relations 
between  the  shepherd  and  his  sheep  have 
somehow  seemed  more  beautiful  than  any 
other  contact  between  man  and  brute.  I 
never  owned  a  sheep  in  my  life,  but  I 
have  come  to  believe  that  the  wonderful 
Twenty-third  Psalm  is  but  a  symbolic 
way  of  giving  the  relations  between  a 
good  shepherd  and  his  flock.  John  Baker 
seemed  to  have  something  of  this  in  mind 
as  he  stood,  lantern  in  hand,  watching  his 
sheep. 
“Mighty  happy,  ain’t  they,  teacher? 
Looks  like  home  to  me — peaceful  as  home 
ought  to  be.  All  of  one  mind.  I  sup¬ 
pose  you  noticed  the  woman  speaks  kinda 
sharp  now  and  again.  Very  smart  wom¬ 
an,  she  is.  You  might  not  think  it.  but 
they  christened  her  Violet.  Don’t  like 
her  name !  Says  she’s  no  shrinking  thing, 
and  that’s  right.  I  was  sorter  fooled  m 
her.  You  take  these  girls  that  go  to  a 
church  social  and  just  nibble  at  a  piece 
of  cake  or  a  little  oyster  stew,  and  you 
thiuk  they  may  be  angels.  Follow  ’em 
home  and  you  find  ’em  calling  for  cold 
baked  beans  and  potatoes.  Take  my  ad¬ 
vice.  teacher,  and  find  what  the  girl  eats 
w’hen  she’s  to  home.  And  go  in  the  back 
door  now  and  then  when  you  call  on  her. 
A  fine  woman.  Vi,  but  kinda  masterful ! 
Kinda  masterful !  It  ain’t  in  her  nature 
to  stand  quiet  like  these  sheep  do,  and  it 
ain’t  in  my  nature  to  always  be  butting 
like  the  old  ram.”  H.  w.  c. 
(To  Be  Continued) 
Killing  Trees  With  Poison 
Can  you  give  me  a  formula  for  a  good 
tree  killer?  I  have  15  Carolina  poplars 
to  kill,  md  wish  to  avoid  grubbing  sprouts 
every  morning  before  breakfast  for  years, 
over  a  radius  of  about  100  ft.  w.  o.  s. 
The  following  method  of  killing  sprout 
growth  of  timber  has  been  used  success¬ 
fully.  If  properly  used  it  should  kill  the 
roots  of  the  trees  and  thus  prevent  growth 
of  sprouts  from  the  stumps  and  roots. 
The  solution  is  not  intended  to  be  used 
to  destroy  shrubs,  vines,  underbrush,  x>r 
bushes.  Its  application  to  such  plants 
would  be  difficult.  The  solution  is  poison¬ 
ous  and  care  must  be  taken  to  see  that 
people  and  animals  keep  away  from  it. 
Use  1  lb.  of  arsenic  and  3  lbs.  of  soda 
to  make  one  gallon  of  this  poison.  Arsenic 
is  not  soluble  in  water  to  any  great  ex¬ 
tent,  so  that  soda,  either  ordinary  wash¬ 
ing  soda  or  caustic  soda,  has  to  be  used 
to  dissolve  it.  When  large  amounts  of 
the  solution  are  required,  washing  soda 
will  be  cheaper,  but  for  small  quantities 
of  solution  caustic  soda  will  possibly  be 
found  handiest. 
In  preparing  the  solution,  whether 
caustic  soda  or  washing  soda  is  used,  first 
dissolve  the  soda  in  a  convenient  amount 
of  water,  using  heat,  if  desired,  to  assist 
and  hasten  it ;  then  slowly  add  the  ar¬ 
senic,  previously  made  into  a  thin  paste, 
stirring  all  the  time ;  place  on  a  strong 
fire,  and  allow  it  to  boil  for  at  least  half 
an  hour ;  stir  from  time  to  time,  being 
careful  to  stand  on  the  side  away  from 
the  fumes,  as,  being  poisonous,  they  are 
apt  to  cause  sickness.  When  the  arsenic 
is  thoroughly  dissolved,  the  solution  may 
be  made  up  to  the  required  bulk  by  add¬ 
ing  sufficient  water,  either  hot  or  cold. 
The  best  time  to  carry  out  the  work  of 
poisoning  trees  is  when  the  tree  is  dor¬ 
mant  ;  that  is,  in  the  Fall  or  Winter 
months.  In  killing  the  trees,  sink  the 
blade  of  an  ax  into  the  wood  as  if  it  were 
intended  to  cut  the  tree  down.  Then  pry 
downward  on  the  back  of  the  ax,  pour 
some  of  the  poison  into  the  resulting  cav¬ 
ity  and  allow  it  to  run  down  well,  and 
then  withdraw  the  ax. 
Care  should  be  taken  to  see  that  people 
and  animals  keep  away  from  the  poisoned 
trees  until  rain  has  washed  the  poison 
thoroughly  away.  s.  J. 
Filling  Cavity  In  Tree 
I  have  in  my  backyard  a  large  crab- 
apple  tree  which  I  value  for  its  shade, 
but  which  has  a  cavity  caused  by  the 
death  of  a  limb.  I  have  removed  all  de¬ 
cayed  wood  and  wish  to  fill  the  opening 
to  prevent  further  decay.  Could  you  tell 
me  how  to  proceed  ?  N.  r.  m. 
Penn  Yan,  N.  Y. 
Filling  a  cavity  in  a  tree  of  this  kind 
is  pretty  much  the  same  thing  as  filling  a 
decayed  tooth.  That  is  to  say,  the  prin¬ 
ciple  is  the  same.  The  point  is  to  cut 
out  all  the  decayed  wood  with  a  sharp 
knife  or  chisel.  Cut  down  beneath  the 
discolored  wood,  making  sure  to  get  out 
all  evidence  of  decay.  Then  carefully 
swab  out  the  cavity  with  some  antiseptic 
solution.  A  few  drops  of  carbolic  acid 
apparently,  at  about  two-thirds  the  full 
price.  It  may  not  be  generally  known 
that  the  small  potato  is  quite  different 
in  quality  from  the  large  one.  I  am  not 
a  chemist,  but  it  would  appear  that  it 
contains  more  gluten,  or  some  waxy  sub¬ 
stance  that  appears  like  gluten,  and  less 
starch  than  the  mealy  potato,  especially. 
■Some  large  potatoes  seem  to  retain  this 
quality  and  refuse  to  “crack  open”  when 
boiled. 
My  people — and  we  are  farm  raised — 
like  to  keep  a  small  supply  of  little  po¬ 
tatoes  on  hand.  They  are  superior  to 
the  large  ones  for  creaming  and,  aside 
from  the  extra  time  it  takes  to  prepare 
them  for  eating,  they  are  quite  as  desir¬ 
able  as  any  and  really  make  a  separate 
The  Story  of  the  Concord  Grape 
“Here  once  the  embattled  farmers  stood 
And  fired  the  shot  heard  round  the  world.” 
Which  is  what  the  word  “Concord”  means  to  most  patriotic  Americans. 
To  childhood  it  is  where  Louisa  M.  Alcott  wrote  “Little  Women” ;  while  to 
the  literati  it  is  where  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  living  at  the  “Old  Manse,” 
did  much  of  his  best  writing,  and  where  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  and  Henry  D. 
Thoreau  once  lived.  But  to  the  horticulturist  and  lover  and  grower  of  fruits 
it  means  the  place  where  the  Concord  grape  originated.  In  the  Fall  of  1843, 
Ephraim  W.  Bull  of  Concord,  Mass.,  planted  the  seed  from  which  sprang 
the  Concord  grape. 
New  England  and  the  northeastern  section  of  North  America  abound  with 
a  vigorous-growing  native  grape  known  as  the  fox  grape — the  same  grape 
which,  growing  wild  in  such  profusion,  caused  the  exploring  Norsemen  first 
to  christen  this  land„“Vineland.”  It  was  one  of  these  native  vines  that 
Ephraim  Bull  transplanted  into  his  garden  from  where  it  was  growing  be¬ 
side  a  field  fence.  There  wer£  other  vines  in  the  garden  ;  certainly  the  Cataw¬ 
ba  and  possibly  one  or  two  varieties  of  the  more  delicately  flavored,  meaty, 
European  grape — familiar  to  all  Americans  through  the  California  grapes. 
There  was  opportunity,  then,  for  this  wild  vine,  bearing  its  large,  character¬ 
istically  foxy  fruit,  to  Jbe  cross-pollinated  with  pollen  from  its  more  dis¬ 
tinguished  neighbors.  So  that  it  may  very  well  be  that  the  Concord  grape 
carries  a  mixture  of  European  blood,  accounting  iu  a  way  for  the  superiority 
of  the  Concord  over  any  of  the  wild  grapes  similar  to  that  from  which  it 
sprang. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is  because  of  its  high  degree  of  native  blood  that  the 
Concord  is  the  cosmopolite  American  grape,  for  the  European  grape  is  not 
naturally  adapted  to  Eastern  America  and  succumbs  quickly  to  the  dreaded 
phylloxera  or  plant  louse  found  in  America,  which  attacks  the  soft,  fleshy 
roots  of  the  European  grape.  Iu  fact,  the  vineyards  on  the  Continent  have 
been  on  American  roots  since  the  importation  of  this  minute  insect  about 
1880  laid  waste  the  vineyards  of  Europe. 
In  1852,  three  years  after  the  first  fruit  was  borne,  the  variety  was  exhib¬ 
ited  before  the  Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society.  In  1S54  it  was  intro¬ 
duced  by  Ilovey  &  Co.  of  Boston.  In  1855  it  was  found  to  be  growing  in  the 
Middle  West ;  by  1SG0  it  had  beeu  planted  in  the  now  famous  Chautauqua 
grape  section ;  and  in  1865  it  was  awarded  the  Greeley  prize.  Thus  in  the 
short  span  of  a  decade  and  a  half  did  the  Concord  grape  rise  from  oblivion  to 
be  called  by  Horace  Greeley  “the  grape  for  the  millions.” 
It  is  because  of  its  adaptability  to  a  great  range  of  soil  aud  climatic  con¬ 
ditions  that  the  variety  is  so  successful.  It  may  be  found  doing  well  on 
heavy  clay  bottom  land  or  on  sandy  knolls,  aud  in  the  South  and  North  alike, 
though  it  prefers  a  rich,  virgin  soil  in  a  Northern  section.  Where  quantity 
production  is  the  essential,  Concord  stands  supreme,  for  it  bears  early, 
heavily  and  systematically,  so  that  no  other  grape  can  be  grown  so  cheaply. 
Moreover,  since  the  prohibition  movement,  the  finer  and  more  delicate  vari¬ 
eties  formerly  grown  largely  for  champagne  and  wine  making  have  been 
unable  to  compete  with  Concord  on  the  open  market,  and  are  rapidly  giving 
way.  For  the  making  of  grapejuice  Concord  is  used  almost  exclusively. 
Yet  could  some  new  variety  be  found  of  the  same  general  type  as  Concord, 
but  of  higher  quality,  less  inclined  to  crack  and  to  shell  from  the  stem,  and 
of  longer  keeping  quality,  it  might  soon  replace  this  variety,  for  Concord  has 
neither  high  quality  nor  good  shipping  and  keeping  qualities  to  recommend  it. 
As  a  progenitor  of  other  varieties,  Concord  probably  leads.  Among  the 
more  familiar  sorts  of  Concord  parentage  stand  Worden,  Martha,  Cottage, 
Niagara,  Diamond,  Moore  Early,  Highland,  Colerain,  Brighton  and  Black 
Eagle,  while  a  score  of  others  are  directly  or  indirectly  linked  to  the  family 
tree  of  this  famous  grape.  h.  b.  t. 
in  a  cup  of  wafer  would  take  care  of 
such  a  cavity  as  >ou  speak  of.  Swab  out 
the  hole  carefully,  and  then  dry  the  wood 
thoroughly.  Make  a  soft  concrete,  usu¬ 
ally  about  half  and  half  cement  and  fine 
sand,  and  pack  it  firmly  into  the  hole  so 
to  cover  and  fill  every  corner  and  crack. 
Pound  it  in  hard,  and  fill  the  cavity  fully, 
rounding  it  over  nicely  so  that  the  water 
will  run  away,  and  not  soak  in  around 
the  edges  of  the  concrete.  Some  little 
skill  and  judgment  is  required  to  do  this 
properly,  but  as  a  general  proposition 
this  is  the  way  the  work  is  done. 
Give  Credit  to  Small  Potatoes  . 
I  am  sure  that,  on  second  thought,  the 
article  and  comment  on  “cull”  potatoes, 
page  1168,  will  be  found  to  be  too  sweep¬ 
ing.  To  hold  that  small  potatoes  are 
worthless,  or  “trash.”  so  far  as  the  kitch¬ 
en  goes,  is  going  too  far.  Half-size  po¬ 
tatoes  in  this  market  are  sold  in  a  limited 
way,  all  that  are  naturally  turned  out, 
dish.  At  the  same  time  it  does  not  need 
to  be  supposed  that  the  practice  of  load¬ 
ing  this  size  in  with  the  large  ones  is  the 
proper  thing  to  do.  Yet  if  their  special 
value  was  well  understood  they  could  be 
sold  for  nearly  full  price  when  offered  by 
themselves.  They  class  quite  differently 
from  the  nubbin  apples  that  the  deacon 
was  accused  of  putting  into  the  middle  of 
the  barrel  till  the  State  Legislature  got 
mad  and  enacted  a  preventive  law  that, 
quite  as  usual,  went  a  little  too  far,  if 
the  complaints  of  it  heard  from  the  farms 
are  to  be  taken  as  an  indication. 
So  far  as  we  consumers  are  concerned, 
the  big,  over-size  potato  is  more  objec¬ 
tionable  than  the  small  ones  we  get,  even 
if  they  are  not  hollow  in  the  middle.  If 
the  crop  could  be  turned  out  of  about 
uniform  size,  like  eggs,  it  would  be  bet¬ 
ter,  no  doubt,  but  so  long  as  that  cannot 
quite  be  done,  the  small  ones  should  be 
given  their  proper  place  and  value. 
j.  w.  c. 
Notes  from  the  Ox-team  Express 
We  have  at  last  crossed  the  State  line 
of  Wyoming ;  we  were  so  anxious  to  get 
away  from  the  sight  of  that  drab  sage¬ 
brush  we  cut  across  into  Utah  via  a  lane, 
as  they  call  it  here.  It  is  just  a  country 
road.  We  left  the  Oregon  Trail  at  Sage, 
and  traveled  five  or  six  miles,  where  we 
crossed  the  line.  There  were  no  markers 
to  show  where  the  States  joined,  but  for 
some  reason,  we  know  not  why,  we  coulo 
tell  we  had  crossed  the  line.  There  was 
less  sagebrush,  more  grass,  and  a  beauti¬ 
ful  valley.  Soon  we  came  to  the  Bear 
River,  and  here  we  tried  fishing,  but  the 
wind  blew  so  hard  and  cold  this  became 
tiresome,  so  we  drove  off  to  find  a  camp¬ 
ing  place  before  the  pending  storm  ar¬ 
rived. 
About  3  p  .m.  it  rained  and  snowed. 
The  roads  are  impassable,  so  we  have 
been  in  camp  at  a  ranch  house  four  days. 
I  tried  my  hand  at  duck  hunting.  The 
rancher  loaned  me  a  saddle  horse  and  I 
bagged  a  few  mallards.  The  roads  are 
drying  up  some,  so  we  are  off  up  the  big 
hill  towards  Laketown  Canyon,  a  steady 
drag  of  10  miles  up,  and  up  some  more. 
At  last  we  reached  the  peak,  where  we 
could  see  the  beautiful  Bear  Lake.  22 
miles  long.  Water  showed  several  tints 
of  blue.  To  the  southwest,  mountains, 
various  species  of  trees,  and  at  this  time 
of  year  the  foliage  of  different  colors,  a 
beautiful  sight.  Now  we  descend  the 
Laketown  Canyon  about  three  miles,  all 
down  to  the  valley  below  and  the  lake. 
Here  was  the  first  time  In  nearly  two 
months  we  saw  flower  gardens,  sweet 
corn,  fruits,  etc.  What  joy  to  see  some¬ 
thing  other  than  sage!  Here  the  farmers 
grow  cabbage  and  take  it  to  Kemmerer, 
Wyo.,  40  to  50  miles  to  haul  to  market. 
This  lake  drive  on  west  side  is  beauti¬ 
ful  as  to  scenery.  The  road  is  fair  ;  some 
*nud  when  the  rainy  season  is  on,  and 
that  is  where  we  are  out  of  luck.  It  rains 
almost  incessantly  ;  some  snow.  We  make 
a  few  miles  per  day.  We  are  in  the  Mor¬ 
mon  settlements.  We  find  them  very  nice 
people.  The  farmers  along  the  route  will 
not  let  us  pay  for  anything.  They  say, 
“Just  go  help  yourself;  turn  your  cattle 
in  the  fields  and  let  them  fill  up.” 
We  have  now  passed  through  a  corner 
of  Utah,  and  into  Idaho,  touched  Mont¬ 
pelier,  to  Pocatello.  The  past  three 
weeks,  were  simply  abominable  as  to  trav¬ 
el ;  rain,  snow;  more  rain  and  more  snow. 
For  one  solid  week  we  did  not  see  the 
sun.  After  leaving  Montpelier,  Idaho, 
we  invested  in  a  horse  to  help  pull  the 
load  through  the  mud,  as  it  is  utterly  im¬ 
possible  to  procure  a  working  ox.  In  fact, 
there  is  no  such  thing  out  here.  We 
heard  there  was  a  pair  in  Lyman,  Wyo., 
so  we  tried  to  purchase  these,  but  they 
would  not  sell.  We  have  been  in  hard 
luck  ever  since  we  lost  our  Jersey.  We 
bought  a  white-faced  Hereford  bull  in 
Denver  stock  yards,  trained  him  and 
thought  we  had  a  jewel.  We  named  him 
Diamond.”  lie  seemed  to  enjoy  the 
company  he  was  with  going  through  Den¬ 
ver,  but  when  we  got  away  about  50 
miles  and  got  into  mud  roads  he  did  not 
like  that.  He  disliked  to  get  his  feet  wet, 
so  he  used  up  a  lot  of  energy  and  lost 
motion  to  hold  back  the  caravan.  Finally 
lie  crippled  himself  by  his  “bronco  tac¬ 
tics.”  We  were  told  he  graveled  his  front 
foot.  Horsemen  say  that  happens  to 
horses  sometimes,  and  then  they  are  lame 
for  several  weeks,  until  the  gravel  works 
out  above  the  horn  of  the  hoof  just 
where  the  hair  grows,  and  that  seemed  to 
be  the  case  with  Diamond.  We  loafed  at 
Fort  Collins  six  weeks  for  this  to  happen, 
but  the  delay  caused  us  to  weary,  so  I 
coaxed  a  local  butcher  to  give  me  a  few 
dollars  for  him,  and  we  arranged  our 
wagons  so  the  two  oxen  could  take  the 
load.  We  have  a  wagon  and  trailer ; 
with  that  we  started  off  over  one  divide 
after  another,  hoping  in  the  meantime 
we  could  locate  and  buy  a  pair  of  oxen, 
but  no  such  luck;  therefore  we  bought  a 
horse,  and  lie  is  quite  a  nuisance.  We 
display  a  sign  on  our  wagon,  “Horse  For 
Sale.”  A  few  days  ago  we  drove  into  a 
small  town.  A  man  came  out  and  asked 
if  I  wanted  to  be  hung.  I  said,  “Why?” 
“Because  trying  to  sell  a  horse!”  More 
hard  luck.  Well,  I  shall  drag  him  alone 
for  a  spell  longer  if  the  roads  prove  as 
good  as  the  natives  here  say,  and  surelv 
they  are  good  here ;  I  will  turn  the  horse 
loose  in  some  good  pasture  and  let  some¬ 
one  steal  him. 
Steers  out  here  are  marketed  when 
about  two  years  old ;  they  don’t  get  their 
full  growth.  800  to  1,000  lbs. ;  then  the 
rancher  feels  he  needs  the  money,  and 
off  they  go  to  market.  The  rancher  we 
camped  with  four  days  is  a  stockman 
has  700  acres,  and  dwelt  under  the  im¬ 
pression  he  raised  large  cattle,  all  white¬ 
faced  and  grades.  One  days  some  of  his 
largest  cattle  came  into  the  barnvard 
where  our  two  oxen  were,  and  when  they 
stood  beside  ours,  the  man’s  eyes  bulged, 
and  he  remarked,  “Gee,  I  thought  I  had 
large  cattle,  but  they  look  like  calves 
aside  of  your  oxen.”  ,  He  asked,  “Do  all 
your  Eastern  cattle  get  that  large?” 
J.  C.  BERRANG. 
“Maude  says  her  husband  disgraced 
her  on  their  honeymoon.”  “How?”  “On 
the  steamer  she  wanted  the  other  passen¬ 
gers  to  think  an  ocean  trip  was  an  old 
story  to  them,  but  almost  as  soon  as  they 
went  on  board  he  pointed  to  a  row  of  life¬ 
buoys  and  asked  the  captain  what  was 
the  idea  of  all  the  extra  tires.” — Phila¬ 
delphia  Evening  Bulletin. 
